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Moi,
Mama Ngina in Ndung'u land report(December 17, 2004) The
families of former presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi
feature prominently in the list of those who have grabbed public
land that is now recommended for repossession.

‘It’s
a massive cover-up’EAST AFRICAN STANDARD (12. Dec. 2004) The
Government was yesterday accused of a massive cover up moments
after the controversial Ndung’u Land Report was released. A
commissioner with the team that probed illegal and irregular
allocation of land launched a vitriolic attack on the Government
and urged it to come clean.

Big
names shocker in land-grab report
(11 Dec. 2004)
DAILY NATION - The
much-awaited Paul Ndung’u report on illegal allocation of public
land was released yesterday – but without many of the big names
that featured during the commission's public hearings.

No
United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples?(December 10, 2004)For
twenty years, Indigenous Peoples and their support organisations
have been pressuring the United Nations to adopt a declaration for
the protection of the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples.
It is feared that – due to blocking attempts most notably by the
UK and the USA - the UN will now stop this process and leave
Indigenous Peoples’ rights unrecognized.

Graft:
Kenya still among the worstDAILY NATION 10.12.2004 - Parliament
and political parties are ranked by Kenyans as some of the most
corrupt institutions, a new report by Transparency International
reveals.

OGIEK
ADDRESS DUTCH PARLIAMENT
Netherlands, 10 December 2004 - In a historic event at the
Hague on 8 December, the Ogiek of Kenya and the San peoples of
Botswana among others adresssed the Dutch Parliament on the rights
of Indigenous Peoples, more specifically on the Dutch foreign
policy on Indigenous Peoples of Africa.

Ogiek
villagers under pressure to leave homesDecember
8, 2004 - In the village of Kiptilian members of the Ogiek are
being pressed to leave their houses by Silvester Ntutu, brother of
the member of the Kenyan parliament Ole Ntutu.

HUNGER STRIKE BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' REPRESENTATIVES AT THE UNITED
NATIONS! Today, November 29th, 2004, at 11 am, we, Indigenous Peoples'
delegates, declare a hunger strike and spiritual fast inside the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva, during this 3rd week of the 10th session of the Intersessional Working Group on the United Nations Draft Declaration for the Rights on Indigenous Peoples.

Fourteen Characteristics of Fascism
Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism which appeared in Free Inquiry magazine -- a journal of humanist thought.
Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

The
Snows of Kilimanjaro - soon no more!
we urge you to read the following notes by Chief Oren Lyons -
"The Ice Is Melting" by Oren Lyons - Twenty-Fourth
Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures - October 2004, Stockbridge,
Massachusetts - Edited by Hildegarde Hannum

THIS IS THE LAST ADJOURNMENT, COURT WARNS AS AN APPLICATION IS
DISMISSED
By Kimaiyo Towett, Nairobi, Monday Oct. 25, 2004 - The High court in Nairobi, has dismissed with costs a formal application to have individuals who dubiously acquired land in Mau forest and other areas enjoined in a highly contested Environmental suit which took place for the 3rd time in Nairobi, Yesterday.

Ogiek
Professionals to view for Parliamentarians Seats 2007
Election
The Ogiek comunity have declared their interest for parlimentary seats in general Elections comes 2007. During a two days meeting organised by Ogiek Rural Integral Project in Nakuru town which ended on friday 15th, their leaders led by lawyer Charles Saina Sena ( Ex-Dir. Ogiek Rural Integral Project) and Auditor Daniel Kobei (chairman- Ogiek Peoples Development Program) and Lecturer Dr. Johnson Changeiwo (Ex-Dir. Chepkitale Indigenous People) demanded the release of Ndungu report be made public by the government sooner than
later.

Case of a prophet rejected at home
(09. 10. 2004) Prof Wangari Maathai may be a world famous forest conservationist but back at home, she has her own opponents.
It is something akin to the biblical saying that a prophet is never accepted in his home.

Churches And MPs Named in Land Deals
(October 8, 2004) Churches and foreign embassies as well as politicians and civil servants are named in the Ndung'u report as having received and sold public land.
They include many of the mainstream churches like the Catholics and Anglicans as well as smaller religious
groups.

African countries urged to say no to GMOs
Kumasi (Ashanti Region – Gh) - 8 October 2004 - Participants at an international workshop on ecofarming have called on African countries to say no to Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMOs) that destroy livelihoods and biodiversity on the continent.

West must act over Africa - Geldof
(October 7, 2004) The West cannot continue doing nothing about poverty in Africa, Bob Geldof
said. The former pop star, a member of the African Commission of Ethiopia, said we need to analyse why Africa is the sole continent in economic
decline.

Why
report on land is withheld
(October 6, 2004) How
serious is the Government in seeing the process of enacting a
National Land Policy through? - We
started the process because we were serious on it. It is something
we had stated in the Narc manifesto and we are basically bringing
into fruition what we have been yearning for before we got into
government. We believe that a comprehensive policy is the only way
of engendering sound land management.

Big step towards new land laws
(October 6, 2004) DAILY NEWS - For the first time in Kenya's history, the Government has started a process that might finally settle the "land question."
It goes beyond all previous attempts, most of which have at best, amounted to "fire-fighting" commissions established to investigate critical developments in the land
sector.

Grim future as forests are stripped
(October 5, 2004) DAILY NATION - Experts have warned that Kenya's economy faces a grim future, unless urgent measures are taken to halt the destruction of the 360,000-hectare Mau Forests Complex.
Already, some of the rivers running from the complex have either dried up or become seasonal due to the destruction of tree cover and settlement.

Destruction
of Mau Forest Complex Threatens Kenya's Entire Economy
(October 4, 2004) THE GRABBING of more than a quarter of the
360,000-hectare Mau Forest complex where wanton felling of trees
has been going on for years as illegal settlers occupy the land
and burn thousands of tonnes of charcoal, poses a major threat to
Kenya's economy.

Explain Policy on Forests
Environment Assistant Minister Wangari Maathai is not given to
melodrama, and so when she declares in public that she would rather lose her parliamentary seat than sit back and watch as forests are turned into farmland under the so-called shamba system, Kenyans should take
notice.

"Indigenous Peoples Among Earth`s
Poorest"
(September 24, 2004) Respect for cultures needed in development, World Bank Head Says
- WASHINGTON - "Indigenous people account for some of the poorest and most excluded populations on the planet," World Bank President James Wolfensohn says. Speaking September 23 at a World Bank forum on trends in development involving indigenous peoples, Wolfensohn said the bank recognizes that respect for different cultures is integral to development efforts.

A Glimmer of Hope for the Ogiek
NAIROBI, Sep 15 (IPS) - It's probably fair to say that the plight of the Ogiek receives little attention on a continent with more than its share of political and economic
crises. The Ogiek are "one of the few remaining hunter-gatherer peoples of East Africa" according to Survival International - a British-based organisation that fights for the rights of indigenous communities.

Kimunya:
Internally displaced opportunists(September 12, 2004) Lands and
Housing minister Amos Kimunya does not have very good news for
those displaced by ethnic clashes. "The Government does not
have any land to give," the minister said categorically.
"We have no land for re-distribution".

Draft Biosafty Bill Will not Protect Kenya from the Risks of GMOS
(Thursday 2nd September 2004) Biosafety bill endangers
Kenya - Media release - Kenya's draft Bill on Biosafety is flawed, and does not do enough to protect Kenyan agriculture, people and environment from the potential risks of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), said a coalition of farmers groups, environmentalists, and development NGOs
today.

Forests destroyed by tea factories
(August 31, 2004) The wanton destruction of forests by some tea factory operators in Mathioya, Othaya and Kangema divisions is very
saddening.

GENOCIDE OF THE HAIDA
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY: Genocide It Is by Marty Logan - MONTREAL, Aug 9
(IPS) - When the Belgian Defence Ministry earlier this year blamed North America for the world's worst ever genocide over its killing of
millions of indigenous peoples, outrage at the claim spotlighted a topic
that rarely enters the public realm but has long been accepted by many
native Americans and their supporters.

How the UN has failed in its mission
(July 25, 2004)Here’s a quick pop quiz. What do right wing ideologues in the United States have in common with the filth in Nairobi’s garbage dumps? At first glance, there is nothing that obviously ties them together, but closer inspection turns up the one thing they share. They may both be harbingers of the death of the United Nations.

Local Communities Seen as Key Allies in Forest
Conservation
WASHINGTON, DC, July 23, 2004 (ENS) - The international community should provide indigenous people with financial incentives to encourage conservation of the world's tropical forests, advises a new report by Forest Trends, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that advocates market approaches to conserving forests outside of protected
areas.

TINET SETTLEMENT SCHEME - PROGRESS OF BIAS,
CORRUPTION, VIOLENCE AND DISPLACEMENT OF GENUINE OGIEK
(July
21, 2004) This is kindly to bring the above subject to your
attention, that
has made the genuine Ogiek as squatters in all areas inhabited by
them. Since the NARC took over the power, President Kibaki has been on
the forefront to condemn corruption. In his both speeches when
being sworn in and opening the ninth parliament, he urge all
Kenyans to assist in fighting and condemning corruption.

GENOCIDE AGAINST THE CHEPKITALE OGIEK CONTINUES
(12. July 2004) Mt. Elgon / Kenya
- Mr. Masai Ndiwa Sangula was brutally killed on 17^th May 2004 and that confirms the fear and continued genocide against Chepkitale Ogiek. A well-armed militia group came and pulled Mr. Sangula out of his sleep and shot him using a gun at a very close
range.

FIRST OGIEK EXHIBITION - A GREAT SUCCESS
The historic event of a first Ogiek exhibition ended at the Nakuru Agricultural
Show last Sunday and was a great success. The Ogiek Peoples Development
Program through its Centre for Endangered Languages project facilitated the
event from 12th-17th July 2004.

"Space for the embattled"
(July 12, 2004) Minority communities need a respite from attack to be able to challenge their own dupes and demagogues
-- The American Directory of Certified Uncle Toms, published by the self-appointed Council on Black Internal Affairs after the Million Man March, describes itself as "a review of the history, antics and attitudes of handkerchief heads, Aunt Jemimas, head negroes in charge and house negroes against the freedom of the black race".

Congo, Democratic Republic: Pygmies stand up to World Bank logging development
WRM bulletin July 2004 - Together with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Bank is supporting the development of comprehensive new forestry laws in the Congo, as well as the 'zoning' of the country's entire forest area which would imply the logging of some 60 million hectares of tropical forest. More than 100 environment, development and human rights groups had challenged in February of this year those projects (see WRM Bulletin Nº 80).

Pan
African Paper Mills spread sickness
WRM bulletin - Issue Number 83 - June 2004 - Pulp and paper
production in Kenya is presently dominated by one firm, Pan
African Paper Mills (Panpaper), which is a joint venture between
the Kenyan Government, the World Bank’s private investment arm
International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Orient Paper Mills,
part of the Birhla group from India.

Forest
policy to impoverish 60,000 families
(June 17, 2004) The termination of the forests'
non-resident-cultivation programme, popularly known as the shamba
system, will make more than 60,000 squatter families destitute. It
is also going to cost the government an extra Sh720 million to
establish 30,000 hectares of tree plantations.

US
names Kenya in slavery report
(June 16, 2004) Kenya has been placed on an international
watchlist as a transit point for women and children smuggled from
other African countries as sex slaves. A report by the United
States Government says Kenya is "country of origin,
destination, and transit point" of people smuggled across
borders for sexual exploitation and forced labour.

State
to plant trees on 30,000 hectares
(June 10, 2004) Some Sh20 million has been set aside to hire
people to plant trees in Government forests. The forestry
department intends to plant trees on 30,000 hectares in 10 years.
Mr Mbugua said the department last year planted seedlings on 9,000
hectares, up from 4,000 hectares in 2002.

Factional bickering within NARC is hurting the country
(June 08, 2004) Statement of the Kenyan Community Abroad -- There is no doubt in our minds as Kenyans that the factional discord
within the ruling NARC coalition has reached its acme, unfortunately
at the expense of the entire country's well-being.

OGIEK
AT WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ON 8TH JUNE 2004
The World Environment day was observed in Mau forest and was part of the KTN news yesterday, which was broadcasted countrywide. Participants on the ground and the viewers of the TV news footage could observe even some Ogiek hunters harvesting honey in the forest to celebrate.

Cheap
Party Politics scatter serious talks on Forest Law
(June 3-5, 2004) The conflict between the main affiliates of the
National Rainbow Coalition –LDP and NAK- took a new face
yesterday when Liberal Democratic Party back-benchers and some
Ford Kenya MPs joined hands with the opposition Kanu to reject a
Government Bill. The Narc back-benchers who voted against the
Forests Bill 2004 were understood to have done so to protest
recent statements by some Cabinet ministers allied to NAK which
the LDP saw as an onslaught against their party.

Forest
officers and the vanishing trees
(May 30, 2004) Business went on as usual this week as MPs got down
to work, having refused to break for the three-week pre-Budget
recess last week. Consequently, the House is expected to sit
through the Budget until late July.

Involve
residents in forest conservation, says MPs
(May 28, 2004) MPs asked the
Government to encourage community participation in forest
conservation.The lawmakers were unanimous that communities living
near forests were more reliable in forest conservation than even
some of its officers who were known to encourage destruction of
the resource.

- An MP
is among the people who owe the GovernmentSh32 million for forest materials boughton credit since1998,
a forestry official said yesterday.

The Eldama Ravine Mp Mr Musa Sirma, owes more than Sh10 million
for materials obtainedon
credit in Koibatek District, the Koibatek District Forest Officer,
Mr Joshua Charana. Mr Sirma is a former District Forest Officer.

Call to keep off indigenous forests
Story by NATION Reporter (May 10, 2004) Farmers have been told to keep off indigenous forests. Environment assistant minister Wangari Maathai yesterday said the Government would protect "at all
costs" all the gazetted forested areas. "We cannot sacrifice indigenous forests at the expense of etic
plantations. Plantations represent a monoculture of trees, but a forest is an ecology system," she said when opening a conference on environment law at the Grand Regency Hotel, Nairobi.

We
Say: No to APEC
In Opposition to Free
Market Globalization and Neo Colonialism (Mapuche Nation for the
Self Determination of Indigenous Peoples and Nations) Mapuche
Organizations and Regional Entities reject APEC summit in their
ancestral territory - Contrary to the claims made by
governments, businesses and transnational corporations about
economic globalization, we do NOT understand globalization as a
world of opportunity.

In Solidarity
with the Akha
Matthew McDaniel, AKHA
CRUSADER detained illegally
by Terror-Squad of the Government of Thailand! - A few days ago, the director of the
Akha Heritage Foundation, Matthew McDaniel, was arrested in Mae
Sai and is likely to be deported from Thailand. Matthew has been
living in Northern Thailand for many years and is an
internationally known activist for the rights of Indigenous
Peoples - and the Akha in particular. He has also repeatedly
spoken out against the devastating social and cultural impacts of
tourism on the hill peoples in this region.

Just
Say NO TO GEOs - as well as to their CEOs!
Seed and Gene Wars in East Africa - A time witness and whistle
blower observes - by John Bamau - While
it has transpired that in Kenya the importation and the
transhipment of genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) - formerly
known also as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - to even more
vulnerable countries like Somalia and Sudan is not controlled,
their use and utilization in the country itself goes likewise
totally unchecked. The use of seeds or plants from GEOs in
agriculture and even in forestry apparently has been secretly
promoted and spread through its in/famous National Youth Service -
a paramilitary post school training entity - and other often not
informed extension services for years and wide into the rural
areas of this East African country.

Special
Issues for the 60th Session of the UN Commission
on Human Rights (excerpt from a report by the Asian Centre for
Human Rights (ACHR) - 31.03.2004) During
the 4th week (5-9 April 2004), the 60th session of the Commission
on Human Rights (CHR) is scheduled to consider the agenda items
relating to vulnerable groups: children, minorities, migrant
workers, internally displaced persons, indigenous peoples and
persons with disabilities.

Another
Blow to Land Clashes Victims
(March 31, 2004) The Nation (Nairobi) Thousands of people
displaced during the politically instigated land clashes in the
1990s will have nowhere to go after the Government ordered them
out of forests by today.

Hunter-
gatherers attacked
24 March 2004 e-news from
Survival International / Two
people were killed, another was wounded and 200 houses were burnt
down when a community of Ogiek hunter-gatherers was attacked on
February 26 on the forested slopes of Mount Elgon, in western
Kenya. The attackers are from the Pok people, who dominate the
area and look down on the Ogiek.

"Best
way to help Africa is to leave it alone?"
THURSDAY POSTCARD 18 MARCH 2004 - The
previous week I participated in a controversial debate: "The
Best way to help Africa is to leave it alone". It was held at
the Royal Geographical Society in London, sponsored by The Evening
Standard of London and organized by Intelligence Squared, a Public
issue debate organisation.

Please
Help -- First World in Deepening Crisis!
This is an appeal to third world
citizens everywhere. Even as you read this, corporate executives
all over the world are having to cope with an ever-increasing
crisis. The corporations need to produce more profit every year,
otherwise they will die. Working via western governments and aid
agencies, we have so far managed to stave off this crisis, by
building large infrastructure projects like dams, in the third
world. More recently we are moving into Eastern Europe too, so you
can see we are getting desperate.

KWS
wants compensation law changed(March 15, 2004)
Story by KAULI MWATELA - MPs
have been challenged to change the relevant law and pave way for
better compensation for wildlife victims. "The
ball is in your court," the Kenya Wildlife Services director,
Mr Evans Mukolwe said.

UNICEF
Nigerian Polio Vaccine Contaminated with Sterilizing Agents,
Scientist Finds
(March 11, 2004) Scientist says things discovered in vaccines are
“harmful, toxic” - KADUNA,
Nigeria, (LifeSiteNews.com) - A UNICEF campaign to vaccinate
Nigeria’s youth against polio may have been a front for
sterilizing the nation. Dr. Haruna Kaita, a pharmaceutical
scientist and Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of
Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, took samples of the vaccine to
labs in India for analysis.

Letter
by Survival International to the Kenya Government
(March 10, 2004) Re: Attack at
Mt Elgon - Your
Excellency , Survival is
extremely disturbed by the recent events at Chepyuk forest, on the
slopes of Mt Elgon. The local community of the Ogiek people was
attacked, two people have been killed, others severely wounded,
and two hundred houses burnt down. The aggressors are reported to
be from the Pok (Sabaot) a local dominant group, This
forest area was originally inhabited by the Chepkitale Ogiek
hunter-gatherer people. In the 1970s 24,000 acres of the land was
legally assigned to the Ogiek as a settlement scheme, but since
then it has been infiltrated by the Sabaot. The attack was
apparently intended to drive out the remaining Ogiek settlers. As
the original inhabitants of the Mount Elgon forest, the Ogiek
ought to have the right to inhabit a much larger area, but now
they are being deprived of even the portion that was assigned to
them.

Assessment confirms substantial food insecurity
NAIROBI, 10 March (IRIN) - An assessment of the food security situation in
drought-affected areas of Kenya has confirmed that households in the coastal
districts as well as in the east and southwest continue to face
shortages, a report said on 5 March.

Information Note on the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations 2004
(March 9, 2004) This is to inform you that the twenty-second session of
the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) will meet at the
United Nations Office in Geneva from 19 to 23 July 2004. The Working
Group is open to representatives of indigenous organizations, peoples
and communities as well as representatives of Governments, non-governmental
organizations and United Nations agencies.

OGIEK PRESENTATITION AT WGIP
Thank you Mr. Chairman, My name is Daniel Mpoiko Kobei; I am a Kenyan representing a minority, hunter-gatherer community called Ogiek in Kenya.
Sir, I consider a great privilege to be part of this august house and a more so amidst the 10th Session of United Nation Working Group on Minorities. Being a minority from a minority community of approximately 22,000 people out of a Kenyan population of about 30 million people according to 1999 national
census.

Mau Forest Indigenous People Under Pressure
NAIROBI, Kenya, March 8, 2004 (ENS) - A scramble for the resources of the Mau forest in western Kenya is
displacing indigenous people who have a constitutional right to own homes there. Drought conditions together
with logging of the forest is drying up streams that feed into Lake Nakuru.

Leaders
pay tribute to Prof. Mkangi
(March 8,
2004) Story by NATION
Correspondent and PPS - Publication Date: 03/08/2004 - Leaders
yesterday paid glowing tribute to Prof Katama Mkangi who died in a
road accident on Saturday.In his message of condolence, President
Kibaki described Prof Mkangi as one of the pioneers of pluralism
in the country. "Prof
Mkangi and other forces articulated well the wishes of the silent
majority and their efforts eventually resulted into multi-party
politics in the country," the President said.

Open
Letter to the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs,
Kenya
(March 4, 2004) World Organization Against Torture (Geneva) to:
Hon. Kiraitu Murungi Minister for Justice and Constitutional
Affairs P.O. Box 56057 Sheria House Nairobi, Kenya - Your
Excellency: The Coordination
Office and Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Office of the Habitat
International Coalition's Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN)
and the International Secretariat of the World Organisation
against Torture (OMCT) would like to express their deep concern
about the state of housing rights in Kenya.

Ogiek
attacked at Mt. Elgon
(ECOTERRA Intl./Nairobi
27.02-03.03.2004) Two politicians have so far been killed, a woman
got shot in the stomach and hundreds of people were displaced from
a site at an Ogiek ancestral forest in Western Kenya along the
Uganda Border, where 200 of their houses were burnt to the ground.
The attackers are said to be from the
Pok (Bok) ethnic group of the Sabaot tribe, which belongs to the
Kalenjin group of nilotic tribes and who live also across the
border in Uganda, from where it is said the assault weapons used
in the attack derive.

Bomas
must consider Ogiek land rights(March 2,
2004) By Magdalene Nkando - Since
it took office a year ago, the Narc Government has been on a
marathon race transforming the various development structures,
institutions and processes to revive the economy. There
has been progress in the country’s development, but for the
Ogiek community, there has been very little, if any, opportunity
to share in Narc’s initiatives. The
Ogiek is a community of about 25,000 people, scattered in various
parts of East Africa, with the majority living in Nakuru District.

Rights
report likely to cost Kenya US aid
(Febrary 27, 2004) The latest
US government findings on Kenya's human rights record could cost
substantial amounts in development aid.The State Department cites
a few positive signs, but rates the Kibaki Government’s record
as poor – the same grade the US regularly gave the Moi regime.

Plunder
of Mau Forest a Threat to 3m People
(February 25, 2004) The East African Standard (Nairobi) The
ongoing destruction of the Mau catchment area is threatening the
survival of over three million people, a lobby has said. The
group said if the destruction was not checked, tourism activities
in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem
would also suffer.

A-G
Accused of Ignoring UN Convention On Torture
(February 23, 2004) The East
African Standard (Nairobi) Kenya
risks being suspended from the United Nations Convention Against
Torture, Kenya Human Rights Network (K-Hurinet) has said. Speaking
on behalf of other K-Hurinet officials, Mr Kamanda Mucheke said
this was because Attorney-General Amos Wako has not submitted a
single report to the UN Committee Against Torture for the last
seven years.

UN
Agent Shocked At Forest Destruction
(February 19, 2004) The East
African Standard (Nairobi) - The
United Nations Commission on Human Rights has expressed shock at
the continued destruction of forests in Nakuru despite a
Government ban on logging. An
official at the commission, Mr Miloon Kothari, yesterday
personally witnessed the wanton destruction during a tour of Mau
East forest.

Indigenous Peoples' Knowledge in Modern Patent Trap
(February 19, 2004) - (ET) Kuala Lumpur - Indigenous people are trapped in a
"Catch-22" situation over the protection of their traditional knowledge about medicinal and other uses
of plants as well as other recipes from Mother Nature.

Ogiek
and Watha among 100,000 New supporters for the Bushmen
(February 16, 2004) Survival
supporters around the world are handing in a 100,000 signature
petition to Botswana embassies and consulates this week. The
hand-in marks the second anniversary of the forced relocation of
hundreds of Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' from their ancestral land. One
year ago Survival presented the first 100,000 signatures to the
Botswana government.

Group
wants land lease deals halted
(February 13, 2004) By
ODHIAMBO ORLALE and TONY KAGO - Delegates
have appealed to the Government to freeze the renewal of all land
leases with multinational companies until the new constitution is
enacted. The delegates accused
a powerful politician of supporting Magadi Soda Company to have
its 99-year lease, signed between the colonial government and the
Maasais in Kajiado District, renewed in an underhand manner.

Lands
report recommends equal rights
(February 13, 2004) By MARK AGUTU - Kenyans
will have equal rights to own and use land if a policy currently
being worked on is implemented. The
policy, the first ever in the country, will also make the local
land market more effective and efficient, according to the Land
Policy Formulation Process draft.

Minister
Tells Biwott Off Over Forests
(February 11, 2004) The East
African Standard (Nairobi) Environment
Minister Dr Newton Kulundu yesterday took on Keiyo South MP
Nicholas Biwott for criticising the issuance of tree harvesting
licences to major saw millers. Kulundu
told Biwott to keep off the Narc Government's policy of conserving
forests.

After its over
- the High Commisioner starts counting the losses
(February 9, 2004) International Decade on the World's Indigenous People
(1995 – 2004) - Information note - From: United Nations - HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
- The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights presents its
compliments to all indigenous organizations and has the honour to refer to Economic and Social Council decision 2003/306
in which it was decided to initiate a review of the International Decade of the
World's Indigenous People.

Africa
Policy Outlook 2004
(January 29, 2004) Salih
Booker and Ann-Louise Colgan - In
2004, despite the fact that two African-Americans occupy both of
the major foreign policy posts in the U.S. government, Washington
will not give Africa the attention it deserves and requires. The
U.S.' Africa policy will continue to be characterized by a
duplicity that has emerged as the principal hallmark of the Bush
administration approach to the continent.

Time
to complete the judicial clean-up
(January 23, 2004) After months of talking tough, the Law Society
of Kenya has asked the Government to sack another nine judges for
corruption and incompetence. This will shock the judges who had
escaped Ringera’s cleaver. It will also surprise those who
distrust the LSK.

Row
over Mau Forest ownership
(January 20, 2004) Huge parts of Mau Forest could soon be
destroyed owing to disagreement on who owns the gazetted land.
Narok residents say they own part of it while the county council
insists all of it is gazetted and out of bounds to unauthorised
individuals.

2
communities allowed to stay in state forests(January 14, 2004) The
Dorobo and Ogiek communities have been allowed to remain in State
forests. Environment assistant
minister Wangari Maathai said they were the only people
categorised as "hunters and gatherers" of food, and as
such would be allowed access to public forests. Prof
Maathai said other people occupying public forests illegally must
move out within the new March deadline.

A
Decade of Rhetoric for Indigenous Peoples
(January 12, 2004) Few people may realize that we are living in
the United Nations' International Decade of the World's Indigenous
People (1995-2004). As with other UN designated Decades - Women
(1976-1985) and the Eradication of Colonialism (1990-2000) - the
goal stated at the outset of the Indigenous Decade was ambitious:
to strengthen international cooperation for the solution of
problems faced by Indigenous peoples in the areas of human rights,
culture, the environment, development, education and health.

Forest
evictions were a lapse in judgment
(January 9, 2004) Environment
Minister Newton Kulundu and his assistant, Prof Wangari Maathai,
are yet to give credible justification for evicting non-resident
cultivators from forests around the country.

"AGAIN
EVICTION THREAT"
(January 9, 2004) OPEN LETTER TO THE NARC GOVERNMENT - Ogiek Elders and Leaders Seek Clarification on Government Quit Directive on Forests that Expired
On 31st December 2003 and which the Minister extended to 31st
March, 2004.

British
foreign aid is now targeted at countries willing to sell off their
assets to big business
(January 6, 2004) The Guardian - Spare a thought this bleak new
year for all those who rely on charity. Open your hearts, for
example, to a group of people who, though they live in London, are
in such desperate need of handouts that last year they received £7.6m
in foreign aid. The Adam Smith Institute, the ultra-rightwing
lobby group, now receives more money from Britain's Department for
International Development (DfID) than Liberia or Somalia, two of
the most desperate nations on Earth.

Farmers
Obey Order On Forests
(January 6, 2004) The Nation
(Nairobi) - Most farmers who had planted crops in Government
forests in Keiyo District had by yesterday complied with the
notice to vacate the land. Others
were removing their crops, some of which were not ready for
harvesting.

For security's sake, relax gun control
(05.01.2004) The first case of illicit firearms possession was
reported in Turkana District in 1928. Demand was driven by the
need by communities in this district to defend themselves against
Sudanese raiders targeting their animals.